These delicate white asparagus spears are wonderful. The extraordinarily thick spears are so soft and buttery you can cut them with your fork. In Spain they serve them well chilled with a dollop of mayonnaise, but they can also be served with a vinaigrette or as a special addition to salads.

King Juan Carlos sampled a couple of these extra thick beauties from El Navarrico and exclaimed 'Cojonudos!’ which is slightly off-color slang for terrific! And wine critic Robert Parker said "a delicacy of the world are white asparagus- the best from Navarra in Spain, and Les Landes (Bordeaux)...La Tienda, the online Spanish food purveyor has them preserved in cans (normally I hate canned food), but these are superb."

In early spring, shoots of an asparagus fern emerge from moist, rich and well-drained soil. Normal green asparagus spears are the emerging shoots that are cut off and bound in a bundle.

For white asparagus there is a different method. As the shoots first emerge from the soil, the farmers protect them from the sunlight by forming mounds of soil to surround each group of shoots. As the spears grow a little higher, they add more earth to the mound.

To get these extraordinarily thick spears the asparagus plant has to be several years old, as young plants yield thin spears.

El Navarrico is one of the few places in Spain that follow the traditional way. Most producers outsource asparagus to China, since artisan production is so labor intensive and non-industrial.

Canned white asparagus from Navarra is so revered in Spain that it has its own D.O.(a protected Denomination of Origin), which guarantees its quality and authenticity. Our friends at Navarrico grow the “Cojonudo” white asparagus spears in such limited quantity, that some years we buy the entire harvest to make sure we have enough.

Customer Reviews

"Always good for a canned product. Better quality than other white asparagus I have tried."

William Burzelewski - Tucson, AZ

Bernadette Gutierrez - San Jose, CA

"excellent"

Sonia Bragado - Stony Point , NY

"Good"

debora angulo - fuquay varina, NC

Brian McCall - Austin, TX

"Fantastic! Unique"

peter KAHN - shoreham, NY

"Little mushy"

Phillip glasgow - huntington beach, CA

"EXCELLENT"

JAMES SCOTT - GREAT FALLS, MT

"We grow green asparagus during the spring and can't get anything like this back home!"

Deborah Smith - West Point, KY

"I've tried other white asparagus. Never again. These have spoiled me for all others. Every inch is delicious and smooth. I can understand why the king of Spain said what he said."

Maria B - Seaside, CA

"These are delicate and delicious. Impossible to eat only one. But, I honestly do not think they are far superior to some of the canned asparagus I have purchased at my local supermarket. Still a fantastic product, though."

Dee - Tampa, FL

Edward Creighton - ORACLE, AZ

Jesus Gonzalez - Banks, OR

Audrey Menzer - Havre de Grace, MD

LEROY LOY - HARRISBURG, PA

"Grate Product"

Marina Bounds - Drexel Hill, PA

"Due to the shape of the can and the design of my can opener getting to the product was a challenge, will need to find a different can opener in the future."

Richard Mullins - Sagle, ID

Gemma - Indianapolis, IN

"silky and delicious"

Cesar Calderon - Arlington, VA

Earle Gay - LANCASTER, PA

"great with aioli after being a little chilled uin the fridge"

brian

Marco

Andy

"Melting in your mouth, flavorful and delicious!"

A Gourmet in New Jersey

"We missed the white asparagus when we went to Spain. Now we can get them in Colorado of all places. They were delich, big, and practically melted in our mouths."

Teresa V.

MW

"great asparagus...delicious..."

JMG

"The best white asparagus I ate. They are delicious with mayonnaise and the best part is that you do not have to cook them, they come ready to be enjoyed. "

Maria Martin

"So far everything that I have ordered has taken me back to Spain. Next year if possible I would like to see Girlaches in your catalog. Thank you for allowing me to relive my memories of Spain."